I came across a fascinating new study from Retrevo.com about social media addiction. At first glance I was shocked at the addiction level that people have to sites like Facebook and Twitter, but after travelling for the last two weeks and seeing people checking and updating these sites from their phones, I came to better understand the numbers.
The study asked 1,000 social media user’s questions such as when, where, and how much time they spend on sites and services like Facebook and Twitter. Here are the some of the results.
Last thing At Night And First Thing In The Morning
Almost half of the respondents said they check in on the social media scene in bed, during the night or as soon as they wake up in the morning. As you would expect younger social media users said they tweet by night more than those over 25.
Twitter As A News Source
While almost 50% of social media users check Facebook and Twitter first thing in the morning, 16% of social media users say that these sites are how they get their morning news.
It will be interesting to see how this number grows over the next couple of years and what it means to news portals like Yahoo News and Google News as well as traditional media channels like TV and newspapers.
Facebook Addiction
Facebook’s continued growth has been phenomenal and one of the reasons for its continued success is its addiction. 56% of social media users need to check Facebook at least once a day and an amazing 12% say they need to check it every couple of hours.
Social Media Interruption
As part of the study respondents were asked how they felt about being interrupted at various times and occasions for an electronic message. With everyone texting away on their phones these days, not surprisingly, over 40% of respondents said they didn’t mind being interrupted for a message. In fact, 32% said a meal was not off limits while 7% said they’d even check out a message during an intimate moment.
Summary
It is pretty clear from the study that there are a significant number of people who are addicted to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, especially Facebook. It is also quite apparent that individuals expect companies to have a Fan Page on Facebook and a Twitter account as well as a web site. They expect your brand and company to be visible wherever they are online.
Facebook for some is addicting because of the games like farmville. Personally, I’m not really into the gaming thing but, I use facebook as a means to connect with friends and to promote anything that needs promoting.
I am on in the morning, afternoon, and night. I am addicted to facebook. I really hate to admit that. i do not have internet access at home so I use it thru my mobile which does not allow me to play the games. I do love facebook as I have reconnected with high school friends. My mom, sisters and nieces all use facebook. I am addicted but love it, glad its here.
Social media in general is addicting. Look at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and MySpace. These are social media networks that simply exploded. Social media is key for optimizing your website these days too, and is becoming increasingly more important when promoting things, as Andrew said previously. Allows you to easily tap into a user base with specific interests quite quickly. Social media optimization is just plain “a must” these days.
It is good to see that there is still a large percentage of people who won’t allow themselves to be interrupted during a meal or personal moment, yet I certainly have a good number of friends who are fully addicted to their social media, perhaps the fact that they have iPhones has something to do with it. The average number, from above, of iPhone owners who check their social media sites throughout the day certainly was higher than everyone else.
Yes, I feel that I am abdicated too. Specially the point last in the night and first in the morning also applies to me.
My list of SMO addiction
Stumbleupon
Facebook
myspace
digg
youtube
twitter
i am really enjoying my SMO
I use facebook similar to Andrew, to connect with friends. Especially friends that I have not seen for some time, it is nice to reconnect. I also have a fanpage for my business, which is a nice way to connect with all of my practice members. We put up topic of the week or other specific events that we are having at our office. Facebook is a nice way to connect with friends and also use as a way to communicate to the public as well.